Updates: news releases and updates

When Friends of the Earth detailed the abuses and illegal actions of the Indonesian palm oil company Bumitama Agri in our report, Commodity Crimes last November, it set in motion a discussion in which the company made a number of promises to impro...

Science and social movements agree: Palm oil expansion is bad for people and bad for the planet
Just a few years ago, palm oil entered the spotlight as one of the best and brightest options for a “drop-in” biofuel feedstock (a type of...

In November, the EPA will make a decision that could mitigate the higher food prices and job losses we're seeing across the country and abroad right now thanks to our federal biofuels mandate–the Renewable Fuel Standard. In August, eight sta...

Today a bipartisan group of 26 senators urged EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to use her authority to reduce the corn ethanol mandate in the Renewable Fuel Standard.
With record droughts spreading across the country, corn harvests are shrinking an...

If you haven't noticed from the frostbite-inducing air conditioning in your office yet, it's been hot this summer. Really really hot--and dry. In fact, more than half of the counties in the country have now been labeled "disaster areas" by the Dep...

As the drought continues to wreak havoc on our corn crops, the Renewable Fuel Standard – our federal mandate for corn ethanol and other biofuels – has come under fire. Due to the mandate, we’re currently using 40% of our corn in ...

This past Tuesday, Steven Colbert of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report discussed how the current drought -- the worst in 50 years-- will raise food prices around the country and destabilize the corn ethanol market. Colbert and his guest, Iowa St...

As you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family this year, imagine looking across the table and not seeing a turkey. It may be hard to fathom, but it is a reality too many Americans face this year.